Trust Me Not
by Conium Aconite
Summary: It started with the murder. One body cut to pieces the other sitting not far away with a cruel grin. It was decreed a murder followed by a suicide. But mystery surrounds the case like a shroud, and the Pack is pulled into a war that they were never knew about, let alone intended to become a part. But circumstances are never in their favor. After Season 4. I do not own Teen Wolf.
1. Prologue

"Stand thou in the shallows child," the voice chimed, "Mother said to me."

May was gone. She disappeared about half an hour back, soon after the thing started chasing us. She was there and then she wasn't, the only sign of her disappearance a surprised gasp before I turned around, faced with the face of the creature, grinning evilly at me.

"Turn around and trust me child, count thee up to three."

I threw a glance over my shoulder, crashing through the growth and foliage of the woods like there was no tomorrow. I could feel it's eyes on my back, hear the pattering of its feet on the ground as it raced along behind me.

"Do not fight the seas my child, when they have pulled thee down."

I frowned. But the whole reason May was so scared was because everything but us was silent. The creature had no footsteps. So what the hell was following me? I came to a clearing and something tripped me, sending me stumbling forward. I hit the ground hard enough that the world spun.

"She said to me goodnight my child."

I flipped over, staring in horror at the young woman above me. Her blue eyes were fully black, no whites visible. Her face was gaunt and pale, and she held herself weird, head tilted ever so slightly as she regarded me. May raised her hand, grinning cruelly, and I locked my eyes onto the gleaming surface of the blade.

"And then she let me drown."

The knife descended.

A stab of pain and fire shot through my veins.

Then there was nothing.

 **A/N Alright everyone. I deleted my other story because it was more of an experimental little thing. This one has, hopefully, a better storyline and isn't as fast. This one's for real, and yes, in case you're wondering, I have created a new OC for the purpose of this story. I hope you enjoyed. Please review. Yes that was the song from pretty little liars, but it has a purpose, so... judge me not.**

 **Sid.**


	2. Chapter 1

Stiles POV

"His name was Chris Young," Parrish said, approaching us with a pile of papers and a frown as he read them, "Says here he was out walking with his girlfriend May Harrison and they were attacked. Chris was found torn limb from limb just outside the city limits, and there are signs that he was running there, most likely away from something."

"Or someone," I finished his sentence. Parrish nodded grimly and turned the next page.

"But that's not it. May Harrison's body was found in the same clearing as he was. There was blood coming from her ears and eyes and she was sitting cross-legged against the roots. All of the evidence says that she killed herself and her boyfriend."

"And?" Malia asked, sensing the unease in the deputy's voice.

"But the slit throat was hours old. May sat against the tree half an hour after she died. Nothing moved her, there was no sign of any other life form. May went there herself, killed Sam for sure, judging from the knife she had and the wounds to Chris' head, but she was dead when she did it."

"Do... Do you think it was a werewolf?" Liam asked.

"Actually," Scott frowned, "I don't know if a wolf would bother to set the bodies out. Or provide a bloody knife. This is something different. Kanima maybe, if the master was a little more sadistic," I grimaced and suppressed a shiver, thinking of Jackson, "Banshee or Kitsune possibly. But..."

"What if it's the Nogitsune again," Kira finished for him sadly. Scott and Lydia's eyes flicked in my direction, and I bowed my head a little. Malia put a hand on my shoulder and leaned against me slightly, while Liam looked sympathetic.

"That's probably the most likely," I said shortly.

"We can... We can deal with it later, right?" Scott turned to look at everyone. Parrish nodded and turned to go back to the scene while everyone else paused for a second.

"Keep an ear out tonight," Scott said, "Just in case something's after the supernaturals... again."

* * *

Senior year.

Seeeenior year.

Senior Yeah.

Senor Yar.

What?

I shook my head when I almost ran into the door. Grumbling about how musical instruments mess up Mondays, I moved towards my seat, Scott, Malia, Lydia and Kira following up behind me. We sat down and faced each other, picking up a conversation about, for some weird reason, screwdrivers. My attention was diverted to the front of the room, however, when a familiar substitute teacher placed his things on the desk.

"Class," he called irritably, "Settle down. As you know, I'm Mr Johnson, and I'm taking over your-"

"Incorrect," a voice came from the doorway.

Immediately all heads snapped towards the doorway. A young woman, maybe mid-twenties, strode into the room, dumping an old backpack onto the desk next to Mr Young's stuff. He looked at her, scandalised, and she shrugged, turning to us.

"There was a mix-up, Mr Young is meant to be on the other side of the school right now instead of in Classroom 3A," at this Mr Young paled and we laughed as he took up his stuff and hurried from the room, "I'm the new English teacher because Ms Blake was a psycho. Just kidding, she left because she hates you all," the mystery teacher shrugged and continued talking when we finished laughing, "Alright, I'm Ms Redwood. But only call me that if you have to, understand? Ugh, I hate my last name, it makes me feel like my mother and she's a lawyer. I hate lawyers."

Ms Redwood moved around and sat on the front of her desk, smiling easily, "My name's Jane, but call me Jay. I'm twenty-nine years old and I'm here because of my excellence in everything. Kidding, I got a degree. I have actually practiced as a freelance stunt woman, dancer, those kinds of things, but I'm an English teacher now because I felt the need to get a major in the subject. I'm good like that."

I raised an eyebrow at Scott who grinned and shrugged, turning to the teacher that I actually liked for once.

"Alright, this year is just going to be a bit iggldy-piggldy, because I didn't get that much notice before I had to haul my butt here. I have no idea what I'm gonna make you do or say or write or whatever, so just bear with me. English was my very existence in high school and now I'm training to be a doctor as well. Whew, my life's busy."

Ms Redwood smiled crookedly.

"Okay, Principal says give you some info, I don't know why, but I ain't going against the boss no matter how very amazing I am. I'm from Australia, that's fun, um... I like cheesecake. If someone can come in after class and tell me where to find the best cheesecake, that would be great and I'll bring in garlic bread or something tomorrow. Alright!"

She shot up and walked to the front, taking up the chalk and scoffing at it.

"Americans still use chalkboards?" she said, shaking her head as she lifted it up, "Alright. This is how you spell my name."

I almost laughed.

 _Jayn Redwood.  
Your superior 'Cause I'm cool as.  
Don't listen to me when I say it's easy.  
I'm screwing with you._

She turned and gave us incredulous looks.

"Well?" she asked confusedly, "You gonna copy it down?"

We laughed again, copying her weird little series of lines down into the front of our books as she grinned. She took out a roll and started checking off the names.

"Alright... Uh, Greenberg?"

"Yeah."

"Coach hates you. MCall?"

"Here."

"Nice tat. Alright, Farrah?"

"Here."

"Oi, eyes up here. Tate."

"Uh... Present?"

"I can see that. Alright, uh... McCall?"

"You already called me, Miss."

"So you were paying attention. I'm just reading this in a random order. Uh, now Dickson?"

"He's away miss."

"Lazy little git. Bet he's fat."

"He's on the Lacrosse Team, Miss."

"Pfft, so are you, but you're at school. Being on the team doesn't make you fit, kids. Alright..."

She continued in this fashion, and there was a lot of chuckling and exclamations. Every time she either complimented or insulted someone, and everyone thought it was hilarious. Yeah, I definitely like this teacher. She's better than Harris was. But even good teachers can turn out to be evil dark druids after power so they can kill everyone, as Ms Blake proved. So I was kind of doubtful. I was pulled from my musings when Ms Redwood clapped her hands, rubbing them together.

"Now push the desks and chairs to the sides of the room," she grinned evilly, "This is gonna be easy."

I paled. I really hoped she was joking before. And apparently she wasn't.

"Alright stand in a circle, it's circle time, come on, circle time. I used to love circle time, it was great. Loved it. Alright, now sit back down, peasants."

I looked at Malia on my right and Scott on my left, and both shrugged. The class, murmuring and giggling, slowly formed a circle, sinking to the floor next to friends and stuff. Ms Redwood promptly cut in on Malia's other side and plopped down, stretching her legs out in front of her.

"McCall!"

Scott jumped a little, looking innocently at Ms Redwood, who grinned evilly again, "I understand you were studying Heart of Darkness?"

"Uh... Yes."

"Alright. Mind summing that up?"

Scott was speechless for a second, and I almost snickered. His words were halting and he paused a lot, but he did get it pretty good.

Let nobody ever say he's dumb.

"Goody! Yukimura, what is your favourite book? Magazine? Whatever?"

"Harry Potter?"

"Sick. Why don't you sum up book four for me?"

And so we continued, everyone being forced to sum up various books and recite as many lines as they could remember from a particular passage. Ms Redwood whenever someone let go of someone else's hands, gave us ten seconds to

"Ain't much to say when you're satisfied with your existence, you'll find. Alright, I don't know what your next class it, but right now it's time to eat. Now go run, be free. Goodbye."

We laughed as we moved the tables back and left the room. I couldn't help but flip a look back over my shoulder as I reached the door, one of the last, and Ms Redwood was leaning against her desk, pinching the bridge of her nose and scrunching up her face a little. I couldn't glance again after Scott and Malia pulled me from the area.

And smack dab into someone who went crashing to the floor.

The girl gasped and stood up, collecting her things and grabbing the brown paper bag from where it had fallen. Scott and I reached down to help her, grabbing a couple of books each and standing to pass them to her. She smiled apologetically.

"Sorry," she said, "I should have been watching where I was going."

"It's fine," Scott smiled, "I'm Scott McCall, this is Stiles and Malia." He extended a hand, which the girl took.

"Riley," she said, "Riley Redwood."

"You're Ms Redwood's sister?" I asked her curiously.

"Yeah. I know, shocker, huh?"

Not really. She had a scarily similar face, though her rich ebony eyes were a little bigger and her hair was longer, falling to mid-back instead of shoulders in their thick curls. Riley was built slimmer than Jayn, and she wasn't as tanned, but she held the same quiet, subtle strength. Riley smiled a little and I noticed that she held a box with two cups of coffee in it in one hand. It clicked.

"You're bringing her lunch?" I asked her.

"Yeah," Riley smiled a little, "I gotta talk to her anyway apparently. I should go, so..."

"Yeah," Malia said, "Totally. Later?"

"Later," Riley confirmed. I stepped out of the way, and as she passed I noticed Scott and Malia sniffing. I took a quiet breath of my own.

The smell of pine and cinnamon followed the girl into the room, and I turned away, following Scott and Malia to the cafeteria.

 **A/N Alright, here's part two. I am trying to take this on. My OC character will be involved with the pack, and yes, Derek's gonna be here eventually. Scira, Stalia, And Lydia's got a budding romance with Paaaarrish. However Riley will be forever alone and have a hopefully decent back story. Ups and downs and yes, Jayn and Riley will be involved. I might kill someone violently, however... again. Until next time, readers. Please review, that would be awesome.**

 **Sid**


	3. Chapter 2

Stiles POV

"Get anything?" I asked Scott as we walked away. Malia was smiling a little, seemingly amused by the shock radiating off of the young woman we'd just scarred for life, and Scott himself looked like he was thinking too hard.

"No," Scott said slowly, "I mean, she's human. I didn't smell or sense anything."

"Yeah, I'm sure she's human," I said sarcastically.

"Isn't it possible to just have normal new kids, or is that just not comprehensible," Malia asked.

"There is no such thing as a new kid to Beacon Hills that doesn't want to kill us all."

"What about Liam?"

"He... he's the odd one out, you bit him."

"I know, I was there."

"I wasn't."

"I know, Malia."

I rolled my eyes as we entered the cafeteria, making our way towards Lydia, Kira, and Liam, who had all arrived before us. I sat down between Malia and Scott, opposite the other three, dumping our food onto the table.

"Anything?" Kira asked Scott, who sighed.

"No, nothing. And apparently it's impossible for Stiles to believe that a new student could maybe be a human instead of a homicidal supernatural monster that wants to destroy the world."

"It is impossible," I huffed, "This is _Beacon Hills._ When has anything ever been normal?"

"Yeah, he has a point," Liam said, smiling apologetically at Scott when he threw a look his way.

"See!" I gestured wildly at Liam, "He thinks I'm right."

"You usually are," Scott sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, "Alright, how about this. We stay low, and if she or her sister end up being evil then we confront them about it. Don't do anything until we're absolutely sure about whatever the hell's going on, alright?"

"Got it," I smirked, sitting back smugly.

"And Stiles?"

"Yeah Scotty?"

"Don't be a weirdo."

"Sure thing."

By the time we were all in the classroom, it was about two minutes to the bell. I looked around and spotted the younger Redwood, sitting at a desk with a sketchbook. She looked a little sad, actually, just the expression she was wearing. She looked up when we started to approach her though, and smiled at us.

"Hey," she said, closing the book, "What's up?"

"Nothing much," I smiled, sitting down beside her as Scott sat next to me and Malia on her other side, "You enjoying life at Beacon Hills?"

"It's a lot better than home," she muttered.

"What do you mean?" Kira asked her, sitting just in front.

"There are... family troubles, back home," Riley said.

"Would it be nosy to ask what?" Malia asked hesitantly.

"My brother's a mass murderer and my dad's trying to kill him first," she gave us a serious look but then smiled, "Kidding. Just that we're in a bit of... internal war. My brother eloped, Jayn got blamed when mum broke her wrist, Pop's nuts, and now we're in a sort of mega fight, all of us, because the whole family's disappointed in how horrible we are. I mean, we are so evil, it's awful."

We laughed as the rest of the class came in, and the teacher stood up the front to lecture us about whatever time period we were studying. I noticed Riley pull her book from her backpack and start drawing again, and I glanced over. She noticed and smiled a little, turning it so that I could see what she was drawing. The bird had a long neck and an elegant beak, with dark eyes. It seemed to be on fire. I searching in my head for a moment, and remembered the Phoenix from Greek Mythology. I raised my eyebrows and nodded, and she smiled again, turning it back so she could continue.

"Mr Stilinski?"

"Huh?" I snapped my head up to look at the teacher.

"What creature guarded the tree in the Garden of the Hespenites?" he repeated smugly.

I opened and closed my mouth like a fish, and Riley giggled.

"Miss Redwood," Riley stopped laughing, "You know the answer?"

"Yes, actually," she replied matter-of-factly, "it was Ladon, the hundred-headed dragon that guarded not just any tree, but the tree that grew the golden apples. He was defeated by Hercules, son of Zeus, as one of his twelve labours. And it's _Hesperides_ , sir. Not Hespenites."

The teacher turned red as the class 'ooh'ed at her little comment.

"I suppose you're an expert in Greek Mythology and how it influenced their society, Miss Redwood?" he asked.

"Just the mythology part, sir. People bore me, it's their stories that make life interesting."

"Oh, stories. Quite the philosopher, aren't we? Alright then, Miss Redwood, would you like to tell us something about a mythological creature, then?"

"Which one?"

"Miss Martin, choose a creature. Any creature."

"Banshee," Lydia said automatically, sending the rest of us an apologetic glance. Riley, however shrugged and stood.

"From what my nan tells me the Banshee is an old thing. Known simply as the wailing woman, in some places. Legends often say that she appears in bloodstained clothes or washing blood out of clothes by a river, and both times screaming. Banshees are said to appear either as someone dies or just after. They're like foghorns for death, except a lot more terrifying, because they're more like specters than actual material beings. Nanna sometimes added to the stories, so what I say may not all be utterly reliable seeing as she's going nuts. The scream of the Banshee can be so powerful that it shatters a human skull, can be heard for miles upon miles. She reckons that they're the beginning, the first stage of those creatures like Sirens and mermaids, with voices so pure it caught men and women alike in a trance and lured them into death."

Riley started walking slowly up the aisle between the desks, obviously enjoying herself as the class stared at her. Lydia looked genuinely interested. I was, too, as a matter of fact. This is interesting. So interesting that I was genuinely interested in the interesting interest.

"But what my Nanna told me about Banshees that really freaked me out... well, she reckons they have a special ability. Not the scream. I doubt many of you have heard of the song of the Banshee, no?" I subconsciously shook my head and she sent me an amused glance. The sparkle in her eyes said clearly that she was enjoying this a little too much. "Well, my Nanna says that their voice, if they wish it, can be so mysterious, so hauntingly beautiful that everything, even time, can slow down to listen. She told me that a Banshee's voice can be two things, beautiful and horrifying, and when they sing they are both. It was called the Banshee's Mourning, which is very unoriginal, if you ask me. They're practically always mourning, it's depressing. But the Banshee's Mourning..." she took in a deep breath, and looked dead serious, "The Banshee's Mourning can drive a man to death."

Dead silence.

Riley grinned.

"There's the story. There we go, I think you're sufficiently freaked out, so I'll be sitting down to let you think."

As she sat back down next to me, she caught my staring. With a nod, she opened her book to a fresh page and started drawing again.

"Your nan?" Malia started, "She really told you stories about banshees?"

"Yeah, she was really into myths. Greek and Roman, Egyptian as well, and stuff like werewolves and demons and stuff. Personally I liked the legend of Cerberus, the hellhound. That one's always fun."

I laughed and turned back to the teacher as he stood up. But as he did, the bell rang, and students hurried to grab their stuff and leave. I turned around, about to ask Riley to sit with us, but the young woman was nowhere to be seen. I turned around again, scanning the retreating crowd, and spotted her brown head just as she disappeared out the door.

* * *

After class, we'd spotted Riley and offered her a spot at our table, and talked to her about Banshees. She'd been totally delighted to find that others were interested in her crazy supernatural myths, and gladly discussed it with them. Lydia in particular was very interested, and she and Riley were getting along quite well, if I may say so myself. Then somehow, by the end of lunch break, we were talking about Lacrosse. I don't even know how, we were just following the flow of the conversation and we went from haunting screaming ladies to guys with nets and sticks.

Not bad, actually.

Anyway, she'd been in another two of my classes, and in PE class she seemed all too happy to run a good five extra laps. And that was where we learned that she was a marathon runner. One of the top runners in her last school, actually.

That was interesting.

As we'd left the school, Jayn Redwood had caught us and asked us to pass on a message to our parents, something about diner and burritos.

The Pack meeting had been usual. Just relayed all the info to Liam and agreed to hold back for a while and wait until a threat was presented. Why waste peace?

So Dad and Mrs Melissa were headed to Riley's, and we were all following. According to my dad and Melissa, Ms Redwood had introduced herself to them previously over the phone, and invited them to bring us over for a dinner.

And Riley had no friends.

So we were all headed-

WOAH!

I slammed my foot down on the break and skidded to a stop, gaping at the scene before me. A black Ford Fusion lay overturned on the side of the road, bits and pieces lying scattered all over the place. Little patches of flames danced around on the car and ground around it, also burning a little on the hard road randomly. The driver's side door appeared to have skidded several meters away, and in the middle of the road, a prone figure lay in a pool of blood.

I had the phone at my ear as soon as my foot touched the ground.

"Sher-"

"Parrish, I need an ambulance and all the police here _now_ ," I said frantically, sprinting to the still form on the road, "There's a crash and the driver's lying in the middle of the road-"

"Woah!" Parrish's voice cut through my ranting, "Calm down, Stiles! Where are you, I can send an ambulance."

"Highway," I said shortly, kneeling down next to the broken body and looking at the face, "Woah. Parrish, it's Jayn Redwood, the new English Teacher at school."

"What? Stiles, is she breathing?"

I paled in realisation, staring at the mutilated face, "Parrish..."

"Stiles, what is it?"

"She's alive. But her eyes have been gouged out. The front of her car's caved in, she hit something."

"Stiles, the sheriff and an ambulance are on the way, okay? Stay on the phone."

"Alright."

I put the phone down carelessly, gripping Ms Redwood's hand.

"Stil... in..." she wheezed, her face fixed in a grimace of pain.

"Do't talk, Jay," I said, panicking.

"Tell," she coughed up blood, "Tell... Tell S-co... Rile... she's back."

"Who?" I squeezed her bloody hand a little again, "Who, Jayn?"

"S-Sco-tt," she gasped, "R-Riley. Tell..."

"Nonono, Jayn, come on, you can't reveal something like that and expect me to just go with it! Jayn!"

Jayn was silent.

Her chest stopped moving.

Next thing I knew, Parrish and my dad were pulling me away from the mutilated corpse, towards the ambulance. I knew that the rest of the Pack would be waiting in the treeline, watching what happened. Everything was blurred until the engine of a motorcycle cut through the night. The police and doctors alike whipped around to face the motorcycle roaring towards them. It slowed down, not even coming to a full stop before the rider leaped off and started running, tossing off the helmet and racing towards the scene.

"What happened?" Riley Redwood yelled, "What happened here?"

Parrish gave me a short look, and I nodded as he and my father turned to make their ways towards her.

"Miss Redwood?"

"Who is that?" Riley asked, craning her neck and trying to see the face.

"Miss Redwood, why are you here?"

"Jayn didn't come home," Riley said frantically, "She was late so I went looking for her and STILES ARE YOU OKAY?"

She spotted me and ran forwards, ignoring the sighing sheriff and deputy. As she came to a stop beside me, she looked me in the eyes. Something of my current shock must have been visible. She paled, like I had.

"Stiles?" she asked slowly.

"Stiles," my dad said sternly.

"Riley," I whispered. She backed up a few steps, whirling around to look at the body.

"No," she said, staring right at the de-eyeballed face of her sister, even as the deputies tried to cover up the horrific face.

"No!"

She turned around to face me, her eyes wide and crazy, "No!"

"Riley," Parrish grasped her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. But she only glared at him.

"Who did this?" she cried, "Who did this to her?"

"We don't know," Parrish said, "That's what we're trying to-"

"Stiles," she whipped towards me, looking as frantic and terrified as I felt, "What did she say? Did she say anything to you?"

I nodded a little and all three went silent, aside from Riley's fast breathing.

"What did she say, Stiles," my dad asked me.

"She said to tell you," I looked at Riley, "That _she_ was back."

If possible, she went even whiter.

"No," she whispered, "She... she said that?"

I nodded a little and Riley curled her hands into her hair, muttering to herself.

It took a doctor giving her a sedative in the end, when she started to panic.

And the last thing I saw before they sedated me as well was the mutilated corpse of my English teacher.

 **A/N That's a wrap! Sorry it took a while, I was trying to rewrite. And I tried to save it earlier, but it had a spazz and deleted all my work. So I had to rewrite the entire ending. Yes, I just killed off my character, but now things are gonna get interesting. Who the hell's this? Alright, can people please review? That would be fantastic! Hope you enjoyed, next update will be... later.**

 **Until next time!**

 **Sid.**


	4. Chapter 3

The weeks after the incident were hard.

Every time we entered the English classroom, the students would go completely silent. For Riley, I don't know how it was, but in the classes we had with her, she was silent unless spoken to - by a teacher. Outside of class, she kept to herself, not saying a word to anyone but the teachers, and even then only in classrooms. People all learned quite quickly that if they wanted to talk they were probably going to be unlucky. Some stupid senior decided to try and pick on her, and ended up with a nice nosebleed gushing from his face and a very sore area between his legs. Very few people could get a conversation, so it was pretty confusing when I discovered she would talk to me.

I myself wasn't doing too well. One of the pack was always there with me, moral support, I guess. But seeing your teacher's corpse has a habit of putting you on edge. Scott and Malia, in particular, never really left my side. I found myself actually being able to talk to Riley, and she was a good conversationalist. She was pretty nice, despite what had happened. I suppose it's lucky she even looks at me, after the kinds of memories that would bring up. She should have hated me irrationally, I was expecting it.

Instead she talked mostly to me.

After a while, maybe three weeks, she started opening up a little to the entire pack. Apparently she took a liking to Scott, and regarded Kira with this sort of defensive look. She liked Malia, who thought she was cool only after it was revealed that the younger Redwood knew every form of combat that I've ever heard of. And some that I haven't. Liam was a bit awkward around her at first, but loosened up over time.

About two months after the incident, Riley went quiet again.

She was down all day, shoulders slumped and head bowed, and her even gait seemed heartless and looked agonising.

In the afternoon, she was on her brand-new motorcycle, a sleek black model that I didn't recognise that she started driving only a few days ago, with her phone. She tapped a few buttons, probably hit send, and tucked the device away, taking off down the street. A second later, my phone vibrated. Apparently so did the rest of the pack's.

 _Come over this arvo? Round 5? Address in my contact. Need 2 talk._

Oh.

Alright then.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Riley lived in something resembling a mansion.

Pulling up to the house, the first word on my mind was something along the lines of _Holywowthisisridiculouswhat?_

It was two storeys tall, and majestic as anything. Pale cream bricks and a darker roof, accented with elegant little decorations on the corners and framing the windows. The garden was neat, and the windows were clean. The house seemed to be pretty well-cared-for. A smaller structure off to the side of the driveway was evidently a garage. Riley was walking out, grease all over her hands and face, smiling slightly. Her bike was in the building, but I noticed only a black ford fusion, the hood open and several parts littering the ground around it. I stared for a second. Malia placed a hand on my shoulder, and I nodded, climbing out of the jeep to greet the grinning Redwood. Scott's motorbike arrived not two seconds later, Scott himself and Kira hopping off and pulling of their helmets.

"Hey, Stilinski," Riley said, "Hey all."

"Hey, Riley," the pack replied, smiling at her. Riley shifted, looking around uncomfortably.

"Uh... Come inside."

We followed her up to the beautiful building, and she threw the door open.

"ARCHER!" she yelled out, making most of the others jump. Immediately, a large black dog bounded down the stairs, barrelling into Scott and knocking him right to the floor. Scott laughed, pulling his head away from the enthusiastic dog. The animal immediately complied, instead jumping at Liam and Malia with a playful bark. Malia looked very on edge, like she was holding back the instinct to kill the dog. I snickered.

My mistake.

Now the dog was all over me.

"Archer!" Riley laughed, "Goddammit, leave the kid alone. Park your butt."

Suddenly the onslaught was gone, the happy creature was sitting on the floor, tail thumping against the floor. Riley laughed again and knelt, scratching the dog behind its ears. Archer, who was some kind of big husky, made a satisfied sound and pressed its head into her hand.

"Go find Bones, huh Archer? Go on, go get her!"

Archer licked her hand, almost like a confirmation, and ran off, barking. Riley looked at us and smiled.

"Had them since they were puppies. Archer totally likes people more. Bones' white, so they're like... Mum wanted to call them Yin and Yang, but they didn't answer to anything but Archer and Bones after... After my sister started taking care of them. It was such a hassle getting them here, but customs let up eventually. I think they're some crossbreed, but I can't remember what. Bones hates me. She was Jay's. Arch's mine, though. He's my boy."

With a smile, Riley led us through the house, gesturing to the rooms as she went. She stopped at her room, frowning at her open window, and her eyes moved to the slightly open closet. She shook herself, then moved on, closing the door.

"This," she was sombre now, moving to the living room, "Is why I wanted you here."

The entire room was decked out. Christmas lights, of every colour, lined the shelves and walls, criss-crossing the ceiling and blinking in awesome patterns of deep blue and silver. Several pizzas lay on the table, filling the room with their scent. The massive, flat screen tv built into an alcove in the dark wood wall was on, but the screen was blank. A massive shelf full of movies, however, made it clear what it was there for. The couch was decked with soft blankets, and a bunch of random pillows and bean bags were strewn across the floor.

We all turned to Riley, who was smiling softly.

"We definitely need to talk, but... It would have been Jayn's birthday," she said, "And... Well, you're the only people I can call friends right now, so..."

Liam spoke up.

"Did you..." he frowned a tiny bit, looking sheepish, "Do this often?"

"Yeah. Yeah, every birthday. Except for me it's red and gold instead of blue and silver."

Scott smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"We'd be glad to celebrate with you, Riley."

It was hours later that anything calmed down. We spent a bunch of time playing games and watching movies. We popped on an old film that everyone had seen a million times. Riley seemed intent on commenting, and frankly they were hilarious.

"No, too easy. I think I'll just break the door down instead."

"No, dammit, I'm too good for you, child."

"Goddammit Jimmy, LET ME LIVE MY LIFE!"

"Oh you wanted a nice holiday? Well how about some PTERODACTYL IN YOUR FACE!"

It was great. The horror movie turned out becoming a sort of comedy hour, and by the end my sides were aching.

Then, as we started to calm down, after a couple of slices of cheesecake, Riley's head snapped up, expression losing all traces of mirth in a split second. Her eyes darted around the room, and she glared at a wall. She turned her head slowly to Liam, suddenly taking hold of his shoulder.

"Hit the deck!" she shouted. In the second of confusion, the wall exploded as bullets ripped through it. Immediately, we all dropped to the floor, yelling. Riley's face was contorted into a furious scowl, and she stood. Kira and Lydia yelped, trying to pull her down, but Riley continued to stand, turning to the wall. More bullets came in,and I watched as a bunch hit her.

I waited for blood to spill out.

Nothing happened.

The bullets glanced off her skin like they were marshmallows on diamond, and she started screaming.

This sound was piercing. It was loud and painful, ripping through the air and sendiong sharp pains through my head. I clapped my hands over my ears as the windows and tv shattered, spilling glass everywhere. The bullets stopped, and Riley's mouth was still open, still emitting that deafening shrill sound. Somewhere, in the back of my head, I heard something else, but I couldn't quite place it. Then her voice was gone.

Nobody dared to move, too busy watching the girl as she glared fiercely at the still room through the wall.

Her bedroom.

"Goddammit," she said. The low sound was almost impossible to perceive, like I was listening to her underwater. She turned to everyone, sending a cursory glance over everyone and resting her eyes on Scott.

Riley's eyes hardened again, and she suddenly shot forward and grabbed Scott's arm hauling him to his feet. She went around, pulling all of us up, then went back to Scott, latching onto him and pulling him away from the destroyed room. The rest of us, startled, scrambled after her, into the kitchen, where Riley released the alpha and moved swiftly to the cupboard. She pulled out a strange yellow plant, and for a second I thought it was wolfsbane, and I tensed. But Riley set it on fire with a lighter that I didn't see before, muttering something into her cupped hands, and placed the smoking plant on the bench, turning to us with hard eyes.

The burning petals of the yellow rose emitted an odd white smoke.

"Look, I know what you are," she said, suddenly cold and sharp, "And I should have talked to you earlier but I was stupid enough to think I could postpone it for nother afternoon. But I need your help."

 **A/N And that's it! I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I was distracted with like five million assignments from school and everything. It came together in the end, all is well with the world. Again, sorry to readers. I really hope you guys actually review, if you want me to put something into the story then I'd be happy to take ideas. There's a bit of a twist in store for those of you who will continue reading this horrible fic, but I'm not sure how well I can pull it out.**

 **Until next time!**

 **Sid.**


	5. Chapter 4

All was still. None of us dared to move or breathe, simply watching the Alpha and the marginally shorter girl whose eyes were fixed on Scott's. Scott seemed to be trying to place something, a look of concentration on his face, but he didn't really have long. Riley snapped her head around again, frowning, and yelled.

"Achah!" she yelled, "Bones! Get your butts in here!"

Out of nowhere, the two dogs were in the room, sitting on the floor and eyeing us with their heads cocked to the side. Scott lost his calculating look, and simply frowned at the two canines who were stock-still on the floor.

"They're not-" he began, but he was cut off by an impatient Riley, who seemed to have given up on him. She let his arm go and huffed, turning around to grab another yellow rose from the cupboard, lighting it on fire and coughing a little when the smoke wafted into her face.

"They're hellhounds," she said flatly, "Not like your friend Parrish. He's part human. They're a different kind of hellhound. The actual animalistic thing, all flaming fur galore. When they want to do anything. Otherwise they're this... in appearance, anyway. Look with your... other eyes. You'll see them."

Scott frowned deeper, his eyes flickering red and staying that way. He was gaping at the dogs in shock. Malia and Liam let their own eyes change, and they seemed completely stumped at whatever they were seeing. I groaned, running a hand through my hair as Lydia and Kira looked slightly put off about being left out. Scott got over his awe enough to say a couple of words, eyes still fixed on the hounds.

"Are they..."

"Yeah," Riley grinned suddenly, "Different colour fire. It's a power thing, kinda hard to understand."

She looked at Lydia, Kira and I with a confused look, then realisation dawned on her face. She chuckled and snapped her fingers.

Now the dogs were on fire.

I gasped, staring open-mouthed at the strange creatures. They were identical, aside from the colouring. Lean, powerful bodies covered with thick fur, which on sight looked ridiculously soft. Patterns in the coat shifted and twisted, seeming to paint pictures. Their eyes were blazing pools of light that matched the colour of the fire that danced around them.

Oh, sorry, did I not mention it before?

They're on _fire_.

Stunning tongues of light that flickered around them, possessing a deadly beauty that made me want to reach forward and touch it and turn to run. Bones shone a brilliant emerald green, shades that went from soft and beautiful to poisonous in a heartbeat. Archer, however, sat amid a blaze of crimson, somehow dipping in some places into the deep, dark reds that I'd never expected fire to turn.

"Jayn and I have had them," Riley said, moving around the room, "For as long as I can remember. They're guardians, and if you're not my enemy, they're as close to guaranteed not to almost kill you as it's possible to get. That made perfect sense, by the way."

I blinked and the flames were gone, replaced by the same huskies I'd seen before. I turned my attention fully to Riley, who I realised was drawing all over the doors and walls. Weird figures and words in what looked like a combination of Latin and Greek, though none of the words looked familiar. It could possibly have been gibberish, which would make much more sense..

She turned to us again, pulling open some drawers and tossing several small... things at us. I barely caught mine, not expecting the inch long cylinder to fly at my face. The thing was filled with weird red... sand? Yep, that is definitely sand. The top and bottom were gilded with a golden metal, tiny symbols engraved into the rims. The longer side, probably the top, had a ring on it. I focused on the disturbing colour of the sand, though.

"Why is the sand red?" I asked, raising my container and pointing it at Riley.

"Blood. Don't question it."

With a small sigh, Riley turned back to Scott.

"You're the alpha," she said calmly, "Your territory. Ask as you wish, I will withhold nothing."

"Why was it here?" Scott asked her.

She grimaced.

"I hate smart people," she deadpanned, tensing her shoulders, "Now who's heard of the Remere legends?"

All was silent. We didn't move. We just stared at Scott, who had frowned and was staring intently at Riley's serious face. Liam was the one who spoke, breaking the silence.

"Scott... What's wrong?"

"I researched Amara Remere for that myths and legends class," Scott said, "A project a couple years back. Hero from local lore, some thing that people came up with to explain a bunch of burn spots in the ground in California... Around here, actually. I see them all the time, running in the woods. But I thought she disappeared..."

"There are lots of stories that seem unrealistic, and the timing doesn't fit with history, but the Remere family was a real thing. Stories say Amara disappeared the day she turned twenty-two," Riley nodded, "That's only vaguely accurate. She left her home and her husband and two children without warning or explanation, never came back. But here's the thing. Amara Remere didn't just disappear. She was killed by her sisters, Théa and Amynta, because Amara, contrary to local legend, was no hero. She was jealous and spiteful, cold, unfeeling, and because of that she murdered Amynta's third born, her first daughter."

"Where did you hear about this?" I asked sceptically, but Riley just waved me off.

"Their family was far from human. It's whispered all throughout the world, every supernatural creature knows it. They were the original monsters, the beasts of before beasts were beastly. The Remeres were the starting point for so many legends."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kira asked, stepping forward.

Riley took a deep breath, "Amara didn't just kill Amynta's daughter. She butchered her. Ripped her limb from limb after impaling her through the skull. That's what happened to that guy, Chris Young, few months back, right?"

I nodded as she looked at me.

"Look I don't like it any more than I like nails in my coffee," she sighed, "But Amara's back. Amynta and Théa locked her in eternal torment for her sins and her cruelty, and now that she's free and alive and kicking, she's not gonna stop until every descendant of the Remere line has payed for their 'part' in her fate. That thing that attacked us is _eons_ old. It went by many names, and Amara Remere was only one of them. Scott it's after you."

"Me?" Scott frowned, "Why?"

"You're not just the alpha of this territory, you're a descendent of the Remeres. Your ancestor," she snorted, "What numbnuts names their kid Farren Havari? That's a pseudonym. You're a Remere, through and through. Your mum is as well, but she can't develop her power, not after she turned twenty-four and never used them."

"What do you have to do with this, Riley?" Scott asked.

"Everything," she muttered, "I'm as human as you. Probably less. Definitely less. I'm immortal, I stand in the same bloodlines as you do, because you're already supernatural and now the Remere blood isn't a dominant gene any more. I came here with my sister, and now she's dead and Amara's stuck between going after you or me."

"What do we do, then, Riley?" I snapped.

"We fight," she cried, "Or we die. No in between, no going around. It's kill or be killed. And I'm not making the same mistake twice. Riley Redwood was a descendant of mine, died in a car crash in the 40's. I'm just occupying an empty vessel, have been for a good sixty years. My name is Théa Remere."

 **A/N Okay... Okay. Look, I'm sorry. Again. I took a while and it sucks and I'm horrible and just kill me now because I'm squeezing it in between like four million assignments oh my god help! Sorry it took so long, I feel horrible. I know that the year for the Remeres is unlikely and the origins of the name are weird, but bear with me here. I'll explain later.**

 **Again, sorry I'm such a disappointment. Reviews would be nice. Who has an idea what Théa's gonna turn out to be?**

 **Live well!**

 **Sid.**


	6. Chapter 5

In all logical sense, the old picture shouldn't have had as much colour as it did.

I'd seen many photos from way back when, some more colourful or detailed than others. But this was different. It was like a moment in life, every minute detail captured down to the last tiny blade of yellowing grass. It was a clearing, almost ethereal in how utterly peaceful it seemed. The sky overhead was a display of fluffy white clouds on a strangely darker blue than what I had ever seen outside an airplane. There were people, a small family, running around the grass, barefoot.

It brought a pang to my heart.

One woman was frozen mid laugh, her mouth curled into world's brightest whitest smile. Her eyes glittered and shone with mirth as a young man around her age lunged forward, mouth open in a cry of victory as his fingers started to close around her bicep. The only other girl who was running was a couple of years younger. She had jumped onto a boy's back, and he was running away from the last boy, who seemed a little frustrated. There was another girl, who I found beyond stunning, curled against a tree, a thick book open in her lap. Her ivory locks were tucked behind one of her ears, and revealed most of the perfect face beneath.

A bronze plaque at the bottom of the picture frame labelled it with neat letters.

 _Altera Die_

Of all the pictures that Théa was able to salvage after the attack, this was the one I continuously looked over to. She had only collected five or six that weren't shattered and torn, and right now she was sitting cross legged on Scott's living room couch. Liam, Kira and Malia had gone home, but Lydia had opted to stay here. Parrish was in the kitchen with Scott, fixing up some sandwiches while Lydia and I sat with Théa, waiting for her to start explaining. Apparently Parrish saw the opportunity and brought all the case files on the murders to Scott's house.

She didn't seem very happy.

She kept muttering to herself, frowning and flinching when she got to Jayn's file.

"Stiles," Théa snapped suddenly, "Can you chill with the photo?"

"Was this..." I held it up, and she scowled at me, "The year-"

"The year Amara went nuts? Yes. 1007 by your reckoning. I think we were two or three centuries grown at that point. This was in the same area as Beacon Hills was built centuries later. We liked to come here because it was beautiful. We couldn't really stay longer than a week at a time, not back then. The pure, untainted country brought all our base instincts to the forefront. Like, wilderness drawn to wilderness. No fighting it, and it took years to build up a resistance to that feeling. This was only the first time Amara ever came with us. It took her three days."

The _to go on a killing spree_ went unsaid.

Scott and Parrish walked into the living room, placing the plate of sandwiches down between us on the stool we'd pulled up. Théa nodded to them, waiting until they'd sat down, then pulled one of the photos from the first folder. She handed it to me.

"The girl, May, she was the Remere," Théa said, "That's for sure. Best guess says that Amara found a way to pull that beast to the forefront of her brain so that it consumed her - just like 'Mara. As for Jayn - Amynta, by the way - that was unexpected."

"How so?" Parrish frowned, shifting so that he was leaning forward slightly. Théa sighed.

"Amynta was her favourite sibling. If Amara did _that_ to her... It's not just her in the game. She wouldn't have escaped what we locked her in, not without a proper summoning. Not a chance. I know firsthand how difficult it can be to open and close a whole dimensional portal."

"So," my eyes widened, "There's more than one big bad guy?"

"There's always more than one big bad guy, Stiles," Théa said grimly. "And by the looks of it? Well, it's _some_ witch to have that kind of ability. You still have the sand, right?"

"Yeah," Lydia carefully drew it from her pocket, giving a bit of a wary look at the menacing red tinge.

"Don't lose them," Théa leaned forward, "We need a plan, or we're not gonna last the week."

* * *

"That's possibly the stupidest plan you could come up with."

"What," I rolled my eyes, "Because it's a bad plan or because of the plan we based it off?"

"Both."

Deaton was pretty set on that. He seemed determined to put us off the course of action we'd come up with. The rest of the pack was fine with it, but Deaton stood stoically on the _you're-all-dumb-and-I'm-apparently-gonna-have-to-save-your-butts-again_ side of things. Théa had been protesting all through our planning and right now she was standing and knocking her forehead on the wall, growling under her breath.

"Why?" Scott asked, "She's helping us. And it's a sound plan."

"Scott," Deaton sighed, looking at the alpha pleadingly, "You're talking about _locking her up_. You think that Théa's kind are easy to restrain? And did you not listen when she said that-"

"That the power it would take to lock her up could destroy everyone? There's a chance to do this without killing-"

"The driud is right," Théa said from the side of the room, drawing a cold look from the veterinarian, "The way my siblings and I did it last time was rushed, we had no time to get the energy we needed from elsewhere, and we had so much longer than this. I told you how much power it took? Yeah, well, that power came from us. We had to draw on our souls and the land around us to open it for about thirty seconds."

"But you survived, right?" I pressed. Théa looked down.

"Two of us - oldest and probably strongest supernatural beings in existence, by the way - two of us were drained completely. Aridaios and Karnn, thy're dead. Only Halos, Amynta and me survived, and even then only barely, and the earth was scarred for good. The battle went on for days, all over the place. You know the Grand Canyon, right? Fall of Karnn. Bryce canyon in Utah? Aridaios. We were teleporting everywhere - Mount Kosciusco in Australia was my bad, Mauna Loa, heard of that? Yeah, that was on us too. When we took her down we were under the see just off the coast of the Mariana islands."

"Whoa whoa whoa," I gaped at her, "Mauna Loa and the Mariana Trench? You're kidding, right!"

"No. It was the only thing we were willing to do, trap her. This time... This could be much worse, because we're not trying to trap her. It may take less power, but you don't seem to grasp exactly how hard it will be to _kill_ her!"

"We don't have to kill her! We can-" Scott began, but Théa glared at him.

"If you say there's a chance to trap her again I'm gonna freaking kill you," she said icily, "If we can go through with killing her, we'll be fine. She won't have to be locked up in an alternate dimension, I won't have to use all of my power and create a blast radius to take out most of the state."

The room went silent for a second, mulling over everything, and Liam spoke up from his spot, perched on the counter.

"If we did get her down long enough to finish off whoever summoned her," he said, "And it didn't work. If you had to throw her back into that... prison again. Would you die?"

"I wouldn't even come close before I'd die, Liam," Théa said darkly, "The kind of power that you have to use on short notice like we did way back when, it takes up a lot of energy. Use too much and it eats into your soul."

"What about school," Kira piped up, "Shouldn't we... well, worry about school? A little? How are we gonna do all of that without missing school?"

Théa looked like she'd only just remembered that, and she groaned, but I spoke up.

"We could put it out of commission," I said, "For a week. Like, contaminate it with something."

"Huh," Théa looked at me, "You're smart."

"I try."

"How would we do that?" Malia asked.

"You might be surprised what herbs can do," Deaton smiled. Secret smile. Argh, he's not gonna spill. Théa nodded a little.

"Okay," she shook her head and threw her hands up, "I'll leave that stuff to you, enjoy havoc. Scott, I want to meet your mother."

"Yeah," Scott nodded slightly, following her out. I could hear their motorcycles starting up, and from the sighs coming from everyone else, apparently the'd left . I snapped my head to Malia, who was starting to speak.

"Did anyone else see that limp?"

Nobody replied, just turned to look at her. Malia sighed.

"It's not big, but it's there. Years of hunting," she smiled wryly, "Sort of makes it easy to see weaknesses. She limps. It took a while to notice, but she was definitely favouring the right side a little. You guys wouldn't notice, it's not something that you just see, but I promise you it was there."

"I'm not surprised."

We turned to look at Deaton, who looked sad.

"What do you mean, Doc," I asked him cautiously.

He nodded to Théa's backpack, which she seemed reluctant to leave at Scott's house, "That photo, the old one?"

"The one with the plaque?" I asked, thinking of the smiling faces. Deaton nodded.

"Théa doesn't have that kind of power. She won't let Amara walk free, not after what happened so long ago. She lost two brothers when she locked her sister in eternal torment, and having been thrown to the ground and through the air with enough force to create gorges and mountains enough, that's bound to leave a mark."

I paled, realising what he was talking about. "You don't think she'll last long enough to kill Amara."

"No," Deaton shook his head, "Théa is a creature of honour. She's going to kill her sister, it's the only way. I just don't know whether or not she'll be able to kill her sister despite everything that she's done."

"Deaton," I frowned, "What exactly is Théa?"

The Emissary looked down sadly. "I'm not sure what she is now. Know that she is not a monster, much like yourselves, despite what she may say. But come the day when she has to kill Amara for the greater good, she _will_ be alone."

* * *

Théa POV

I remember when Scott McCall was born.

I remember all of my descendants, it's in my nature that the bond be grown the moment the child is born. I remember Melissa and the way her little eyes flashed gold for just half a second before she started wailing. I remember _her_ father, and how the stubborn little boy decided that he was ready to meet the world - three weeks early.

I remember when I watched little Scott's eyes go from their brilliant silver to the brown that far surpassed the silver in the ways of beauty. My, he had such pretty eyes. Still does.

I also remember the feeling that came flying down the bond when little Scott met his best friend Stiles. I felt that zing of joy when all his friends came around, when his pack was together for the first time. If I'm honest he's one of my favourite descendants.

That may be because most of them were jerks.

Like, seriously. Who with an ounce of my blood in them doesn't want women to vote?

Seeing the affection that Melissa held for her son warmed something in my very core. I hadn't seen something quite like this for many years. It makes me proud to think that this... this was my legacy.

Legacy.

I frowned, stopping just before Scott and I left the McCall home come the morning, and Scott made a curious sound behind me. If he weren't a werewolf I would make him one by now, there should be no human with that puppy dog face.

"Legacy..."

 **A/N Arright, here we go! Ending changed big time, because I realised just how much I hate me, so I'm sorry for the disappointment, and for taking so long! But now what happens? See, I'm so smart *cough*not*cough* I don't even understand. Anyway, I will be posting the new chapter ASAP, so readers, hang in there!**

 **Please Review!**

 **Stay safe, everyone!**

 **Sid.**


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